


Sinatra and Fitzgerald

by orphan_account



Series: Violet Hues [2]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-03
Updated: 2012-09-03
Packaged: 2017-11-13 12:17:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/503461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nyssa encounters a strange phenomenon called "jazz."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sinatra and Fitzgerald

“This place is absolutely dismal,” Tegan said one day when Nyssa arrived at their quarters after a long day of work. Nyssa gave her a puzzled look; something like that went without saying. It was a quarantine ship, and it was never designed to be cheery. They were here to do work, not be entertained.

“I know that,” Nyssa said, unpinning her hair and letting it down. “No use grumbling about it, there's nothing to be done. Anyway, we're doing good work here. The surroundings don't matter.”

“I haven't heard music in _months_ ,” Tegan continued, obviously not done with her rant. Nyssa sighed and let her talk. “They have to have some sort of sound system. I would kill for some Sinatra, or Fitzgerald.”

“Sinatra? Fitzgerald? Are those music genres on your planet?” Nyssa asked, slipping into more casual clothes and coming to sit by Tegan. Tegan laughed.

“No, they're singers. If I could ever figure out how to get music in this place, I could show you.”

Nyssa smiled, and Tegan kissed her. The conversation was forgotten.

 

Tegan still seemed determined to bring music to this place, even though they hadn't found any sort of music to play. While Nyssa was at work, Tegan had figured out the PA system, and had babbled into it for a moment before going off to see if she could find music. Tegan was content for now, since at least she could magnify sound. Nyssa went about her daily routines at work, occasionally wondering about these “Sinatra” and “Fitzgerald” individuals.

One day, Nyssa heard a few bars of music come from the speakers, but it must have been some sort of non-human music, for she heard “Oh, hell's teeth. This isn't right.”just before the speakers went off.

“You're getting there,” Nyssa commented when they came into their quarters for the night. “I'm surprised they're letting you mess around with the ship's sound system.” Tegan gave a smug sort of expression.

“I was persistent. I want my damn Sinatra,” Tegan said, and Nyssa laughed softly. She came over to curl up beside Tegan in their bed, and Tegan eased an arm around her.

“Why do you want that sort of music so badly? Was it your favorite?” Nyssa asked.

“It's one of my favorites, yeah. I like a lot of other music. But this is especially good for dancing,” Tegan said, and Nyssa pondered this a bit.

“We haven't danced since the incident of the Black Orchid,” Nyssa noted. “That was fun, though. I enjoyed those costumes.”

“If I ever get my music playing, we'll do that again. Promise,” Tegan said, leaning over to kiss Nyssa on the cheek. “I've been itching to dance properly with you for ages now.” Nyssa blushed a bit.

“We could dance without music, you know. We could also hum, or sing.” Nyssa paused. “I'd love to dance with you. Although you'll have to forgive if I don't know the steps.”

“Oh, I'd love that,” Tegan said. “And it's okay if you don't know the steps. I'm the only one who knows the music, so I'll have to sing. And my voice is terrible. But we'd still be dancing, so it'd be good enough for now.” She got up, taking Nyssa's hand, pulling her gently up from the bed.

Nyssa blushed when Tegan arranged them in their dancing position; it was a lot closer than she remembered. Then again, they were a fair bit more than friends now. Nyssa found it strange to think about. There was still the friend layer underneath, but they had added kissing, sleeping in the same bed, and now...dancing. Nyssa was glad it was going slow, but she found the whole thing rather enjoyable. After a moment, she slipped closer, nuzzling Tegan's cheek with her own for a moment. Tegan let out a soft laugh.

“Oh, that's perfect,” she murmured, and Nyssa felt Tegan's smile against her skin. When Tegan began to sing, Nyssa's face flushed even more, and she found it difficult to concentrate on even the minimal dancing – swaying, really – that they were doing. She'd never heard Tegan sing before, but she found she loved it, even if it was this quiet.

_Heaven – I'm in heaven_

_And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak_

Nyssa was unfamiliar with the beat, the swing of the song, but it was easy to dance to, even when she was feeling blushy and flustered. Tegan's arms around her kept her moving in the right direction, and soon, she fell right into the dance, the steps growing easier.

_And I seem to find the happiness I seek_

_When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek_

From the way Tegan was smiling, Nyssa knew that she meant what she was singing, and the thought made her heart beat just a little faster. She slipped closer, lulled by the sound of Tegan's voice until the song ended. They held each other for a moment, just quietly.

“That's Sinatra,” Tegan murmured after a moment, and Nyssa leaned up to kiss her.

“...then I like Sinatra.”

 

When Nyssa heard Sinatra over the speakers a few days later near the end of her shift, she did a double-take. Stifling her shock, she leaned down to finish the task at hand, but when she finished, she stared up at the speakers, still hearing the music. It was a man singing this time, with a background of wind and string instruments, so she knew it was not Tegan. Either Tegan had managed to acquire a live band, which was doubtful, or she had finally found a Sinatra recording.

“Oh, this is lovely!” The patient Nyssa was working on, an old woman, broke into a smile. “I haven't heard music in so long. Tell whoever's in charge to keep playing that!” She waved an arm at the speaker. “I feel better already.” Nyssa found herself smiling, and from the way the song was swinging, she even had the urge to dance again. Her patient was bobbing her head happily, and as she worked, Nyssa found herself doing the same.

When her shift ended, she had heard about three songs over the loudspeaker. Two were a male singer, so she supposed that was Sinatra, but the other was a female, so she assumed that was Fitzgerald. She made her way to the room where the sound system was located, and sure enough, Tegan was there, doing a faster dance on her own and looking absolutely elated. Nyssa remembered that the dance was called the Charleston.

“Oh, you beauty,” Nyssa murmured around a widening grin, and ran at Tegan, hugging her. “How did you even manage this? I didn't think there were any recordings of music here.”

“I got to be friends with the tech people, and they were able to access a remote database. Turns out that Sinatra and Fitzgerald are both considered Earth classics.” Tegan took hold of Nyssa and began dancing her around the room, and Nyssa let out a giggle.

“Tegan, we're dancing in the sound room - “ she said breathlessly, and Tegan quirked an eyebrow.

“Well. You're done with work. Let's dance somewhere else.”

Nyssa let Tegan lead her off to their quarters, and later decided that kisses with a soundtrack of Sinatra and Fitzgerald were the best sort of kisses. She could get used to this.  


End file.
